The comic icon, who created Marvel alongside Jack Kirby in 1961, suffered from a number of illnesses over the past year, including pneumonia.

Marvel and Disney confirmed the news of Lee's passing with a lengthy joint statement, writing, "Today, Marvel Comics and The Walt Disney Company pause and reflect with great sadness on the passing of Marvel Chairman Emeritus, Stan Lee. With a heavy heart, we share our deepest condolences with his daughter and brother, and we honor and remember the creator, voice and champion of Marvel."

"Stan Lee was as extraordinary as the characters he created," Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger said. "A super hero in his own right to Marvel fans around the world, Stan had the power to inspire, to entertain, and to connect. The scale of his imagination was only exceeded by the size of his heart."

Some of Lee's creations include The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, X-Men and The Avengers, among countless others.

Over the years, Lee became beloved not just for his culture-shaping work at Marvel, but also the many onscreen cameos he made in various Marvel films beginning with his role as a jury member in the 1989 TV movie The Trial of the Incredible Hulk.